Governments and armed forces are increasingly concerned over the potential for the use of chemical or biological weapons in terrorist attacks or in warfare. The use of chemical or biological weapons create special concerns among rescuers. Particularly, unlike conventional weapons, exposure by rescuers to victims of chemical or biological attack can adversely affect these rescuers. To avoid such affects on rescuers, including medical and transport personnel, it is necessary to isolate the victims of the attack. Additionally, it may be necessary to transport non-contaminated patients through zones that are already contaminated or are under the threat of chemical or biological attack. Meanwhile, in the civilian sector it is increasingly required to treat all emergency patients as potentially infectious and hazardous to personnel and equipment. This requires the use of isolation techniques during transport and treatment. Further, the resurgence of virulent strains of other diseases has required that the civilian medical community consider the need for individual isolation facilities.
Many United States Patents describe various devices for the isolation of victims, and other generally similar devices, some of them portable, for providing sterilized operating environments. These United States Patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,725,426; 5,630,296; 5,626,151; 5,331,991; 5,314,377; 4,000,749; 3,766,844; 3,695,507; 3,272,199; 3,265,059; 3,119,358; 3,118,401; 2,985,129; and 2,683,262.